Poets & Writers

I have always, always wanted to pick up a copy of Poets & Writers with my name in it.

Of course I’ve had several dreams like this that seem to be coming true in ways I never expected lately.

One was the esteemed author-publisher lunch. I figured I’d fly to New York, take great care in my outfit, and trumpets would sound over appetizers.

This vision came true for me last month, except I was the publisher, fresh off a flight, with my author Renee Macalino Rutledge taking me to La Note in Berkeley for creme fraiche pancakes. I drank too much coffee, caught up in the epic feeling of the lunch. We talked publicity, we talked editing, and comp titles, and visited with each other about what the next year will bring.

Afterwards, giddy with spending time with my author, I realized: this is my dream come true, just in reverse. Renee’s debut novel, The Hour of Daydreams, is an evocative reimagining of a Filipino folktale about a young woman with wings. It’s a portrait of a marriage told through the eyes of the woman herself, her new husband, her in-laws, her siblings, and the housekeeper. It’s forthcoming in March 2017, but we’re already getting buzz and blurbs.

And now, in the January/February issue of Poets & Writers, Forest Avenue Press–my press! with quotes by me!–is being profiled in the Small Press Points column. I have a subscription but am considering going to an indie bookstore to pick a copy up, off the shelf, just because, in my long-ago dream of being in this magazine, that’s always how it happened.

If you want a sneak peek, the online version is out now!

I should add that Renee found Forest Avenue Press by searching the Poets & Writers database of small presses, so that’s excellent proof that writers and publishers can find each other through online resources if they’re really clear about what they’re hoping to find.